Chapter Fifty-One: The Twins

The large bed had already been made up with a set of brand-new linens. Fang Xia lay down comfortably and dozed for a while. When she awoke again, two hours had passed, and her stomach was beginning to rumble with hunger.

She pushed open the door to her room. The entire second floor was silent, not a soul in sight; she had no idea what the others were up to. Taking a chocolate bar from her space, she popped it into her mouth. From downstairs, the cheerful laughter of the young women drifted up.

Fang Xia descended the stairs to find quite a few young ladies gathered on the first floor, including the twin sisters.

"Good day, Captain," they greeted her in unison, their voices clear and melodious—a sound that lifted the spirit.

"Captain, Sister Rui said we should stay here and follow your arrangements," one of the twins said. It was obvious from her confident tone that she was Jingru, the elder, while her sister Jingyi was much more bashful.

"And you?" Fang Xia turned to another familiar face, Liu Rui's assistant, the petite Yun Yun.

There were only four rooms upstairs—certainly not enough for seven or eight people to stay all together.

"Brother Fang, these four are the bodyguards Sister Rui selected to ensure the security of your residence. They'll be living on the first floor," Yun Yun explained.

Fang Xia nodded. She had no objections to Liu Rui's arrangements. After all, she wasn’t much of a manager—best to leave these matters to Liu Rui.

The four bodyguards were clearly handpicked, and even if their skills were yet to be seen, their looks were all at least an eight out of ten—pleasing to the eye, to say the least.

Yun Yun continued, "Jingru and Jingyi won’t need to participate in any more battles. Sister Rui was worried you’d be overworked, so she arranged for them to attend to you specifically."

"Just… shoulder rubs and massages?" Even Yun Yun sounded a bit dubious about her own words. With such stunning twins assigned to him, it was obvious what was expected.

Fang Xia, thick-skinned as ever, showed no embarrassment—he was a man, after all, and wanting to sleep with beautiful women was perfectly natural.

She took a box of chocolate bars from her space and handed them to the elder twin. Soon, all eight people in the room were chewing on one.

"The four rooms on the first floor are for you four. No one is allowed to enter unless permitted by me or Liu Rui," she instructed.

"Yes, Captain," came the crisp reply.

The four bodyguard ladies took their belongings to get settled in.

"Yun Yun, take me outside to have a look around. I want to see how things are coming along," Fang Xia said.

She led the twin sisters, with Yun Yun guiding them and explaining the plans for the territory’s renovation as they walked.

"For this area, Sister Rui wants to build more housing so we can rent them out for income, which Dawn City allows. Over there, we’re planning a commercial street—any surplus supplies we have will be sold there. As for that section, we’ll wait and see; if we can grow our own food…" Yun Yun trailed off.

Self-sufficiency? It was possible, but not just yet. When the second supply drop arrived, it would include various crop seeds with high yields and rapid growth, which would solve many day-to-day needs.

That evening, Fang Xia finally saw Liu Rui again. After a long, busy day, Liu Rui flopped down on the second-floor sofa and beckoned the twins over. The sisters, who had been massaging Fang Xia, hurried to her side.

"Tomorrow, we keep recruiting. We’ll also hire some temporary laborers—the pay will be a bit lower than Dawn City’s, but food and lodging are provided, and every two days they’ll get an upgrade crystal," Liu Rui said.

"Also, select a few more trustworthy women. Starting tomorrow, resource collection cannot stop. One team will continue searching the city, focusing on malls and supermarkets. I’ll lead the other team outside the city."

Fang Xia had long since made this decision. It was time to start exploring beyond the city limits—a vast, uncharted territory full of upgrade crystals and supply drops waiting to be discovered.

"I want to go with you," Bai Xing, who had just come upstairs, immediately said when she heard Fang Xia’s plan. She hurried over and sat next to her.

"Alright, you’ll come with me outside the city. Xiao Chun will lead the city team," Fang Xia replied, pulling Bai Xing close without a care for the others’ reactions.

Fortunately, everyone was used to it and pretended not to notice. Li Xiaochun, who had returned with Bai Xing, simply nodded at the arrangement—as long as she wasn’t put in charge of construction or recruitment, she was fine. Fighting was her only interest.

"You’ll go recruit tomorrow. Once you reach five hundred people, that’s enough. This time, relax the requirements a bit—anyone under twenty-five is eligible, preferably with some skills like cooking. No families," Fang Xia instructed.

Recruitment was something only Liu Rui could truly be trusted with.

"Leave a hundred women in the territory with Yun Yun. If any of the temp hires make trouble, kill them," Fang Xia said.

The petite Yun Yun nodded. Killing—none of them were strangers to it anymore.

Under one roof, Fang Xia could read everyone’s intentions clearly and was thoroughly at ease.

For the twins and Yun Yun, this was their first day enjoying life under the captain’s care, and they found it thoroughly delightful.

The group gathered together under the ceiling lights, the table spread with all sorts of snacks.

But that was just the beginning.

Never again would they have to sleep in a tent shared with over a hundred people. Even if those tents were spacious, there was always someone snoring or grinding their teeth at night—it was uncomfortable, to say the least.

And bathing and using the bathroom—those were the greatest blessings now. There was a bath on the second floor, and with only seven of them, there was no need to queue up or squeeze in. Though, if the captain were to join…

Even the four bodyguard ladies downstairs each had their own bathtub and could bathe daily.

Of course, they were overthinking it. Fang Xia had her own private bathtub and wouldn’t be sharing with them.

Not that she was unwilling—now simply wasn’t the time for such luxuries.

Head north out of the territory for about ten kilometers, and you’d come to a large bridge. The zombies on the bridge had already been cleared, and Dawn City had blocked the bridgehead with huge stones to prevent any from crossing.

This time, Fang Xia brought a hundred women with her—mainly the original recruits, whose strength and combat experience were both considerable.

"What’s the plan, Brother Fang?" Only those who had come in with Liu Rui—the original thirty—addressed her this way. They were now the core of the group.

"We climb over, but don’t move those stones," Fang Xia instructed.

The stones weren’t very high, and with their skills, getting over was easy. Zombies, lacking intelligence, would never think to climb.

"Beyond the bridge is a national highway, with some farmhouses scattered around. Wonder if there are any survivors left," mused a woman who was familiar with the area.

"Without relying on the city, there’s no way," Fang Xia replied. She remembered from her previous life that, though people died in Dawn City every day, new arrivals came just as often.

Most were survivors from county towns or other cities, but she had never heard of anyone making it out from the countryside.